


I don't want to leave, please don't make me stay

by frog_that_writes_bullshit (Frog_that_writes)



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Breakups, F/M, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, i love these gay dorks, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 00:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20957447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frog_that_writes/pseuds/frog_that_writes_bullshit
Summary: Jay and Nya come to a realization that really is for the best for everyone. Three other ninja take advantage of this realization.





	I don't want to leave, please don't make me stay

Jay had a problem.

And the problem was currently holding his hand while they walked through a small shopping district in the city. 

Not that Nya was the problem really. She was great, in every possible way. She was funny and smart and good with electronics, and she never got annoyed when he talked too much. They went on fun dates, like the one they were on right now, and it wasn’t like he really disliked dating her.

It just that, maybe, if he was being fully honest, dating her wasn’t quite like what he was expecting. He had been so anxious for such a long time about making that step from friends to a couple, but he hadn’t even really considered what that transition would look like.  
And so far, it really hadn’t looked like much of anything.

They went on dates that honestly could have just been read as friendly outings. They watched dumb non romantic movies and went shopping for parts for their mechs and whatever new inventions they decide to start before abandoning them for something more exciting or pressing. They held hands sometimes, and would smile at each other, but it never felt… however he supposed dating was supposed to feel. 

“Skylor!”  
And then there was that.

Nya’s excited shout had caught the attention of the redhead, who turned around and attempted to juggle her large amount bags. Nya let go of his hand to rush over to her.

“Nya! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I just ran into you like this. It’s so good to see you!” Skylor allowed the other girl to take some of her bags, and smiled over his girlfriend's shoulder as she saw Jay approach.

“Hi Skylor, how have you been?” he asked.

“Oh, can’t complain,” she said. “My latest shipment for _Chen’s Noodle House _is late though, so I had to close down shop for an hour and get some emergency supplies.” She lifted the remaining bags in her arms slightly, and Jay noticed there were bags of flour and assorted spices inside.

“That’s awful,” Nya cried. “Do you know what happened?”

“I’m hoping this is just a one time problem at the warehouse, because I’m losing way too much time right now where I’m not making any profit.”

“Well, don’t let us hold you up then. Actually, do you want some help taking these bags over?” Nya offered. Jay did his best not to let his surprise show on his face.

“That would be amazing,” Skylor sighed, before she took another look at Jay and then shook her head. “But I don’t want to interrupt any plans. Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course! We weren’t really doing anything anyways, right Jay?”  
Jay smiled and nodded, and then immediately let smile fall off his face when Nya turned back around after shoving a few of the bags in his arms. 

“Thanks guys, I really appreciate this.”

It was technically true. They really hadn’t had any specific plans, beyond going to their favorite store that sold second hand parts and scrap metal and then maybe grabbing a bite to eat. But that didn’t mean he had to be happy about his girlfriend volunteering to spend their day out helping someone else carry their groceries. 

But then again, Nya was always happy to rush out to help Skylor. And Pixel too, for that matter. He honestly had trouble counting all the times a date had ended up abruptly or had never even happened in the first place because Pixel had a problem with her Samurai X gear, or because Skylor needed some extra help at the restaurant. 

Which usually meant Jay was left alone, or he wandered off to find his teammates. If they weren’t busy on their own date, that is. He wasn’t really sure what to do when he was a third wheel with his own girlfriend. 

They carried the bags, and Jay was so lost in thought he barely heard the conversation between the two girls.  
And when they finally arrived, he pretended not to notice when Nya blushed after Skylor hugged her in thanks.

* * *

Cole loved his two boyfriends. He would do anything for them, and he wouldn’t trade either of them for the world. They worked well together, and any fights they had were usually easily resolved disagreements caused by external factors.

However, there was one problem.

He and his the aforementioned boyfriends were pining. Hard.

And the person they were pining for was already in a relationship. 

The idea of dating Jay had been something they had discussed a lot in their relationship. They all wanted to, but never at the expense of said lightning wielding ninja’s happiness. If he was happy with Nya, the last thing they wanted to do was take that away from him. So they all decided that they would keep their feelings to themselves. There was no reason to bother him with the idea while he was already happy with someone else. 

The three had briefly entertained the thought that he would be capable of dating them and Nya at the same time if he wanted to, but Kai had confessed that he felt slightly weird about the idea of sharing a boyfriend with his little sister, and as much as they all liked Jay, the relationship but never work if one of them was uncomfortable.

Cole by no means felt that his relationship was incomplete without Jay. That would feel far too much like the two wonderful people he was already dating wasn't enough for him, and like he was trying to pressure Jay to date them. But he knew that bringing the redhead into their relationship could only make it better. Afterall, they had always been a team of four. And Cole certainly held enough room in his heart for one more person.

* * *

Nya loves Jay. He never made her feel less than because she was a girl, and never acted like she couldn’t simultaneously like makeup and pretty clothes as well as mechanics and engineering. He was smart, and attentive and cute and never pushed her into doing things she didn’t want.

It was like dating her best friend.

It was way too much like dating her best friend.

She never wanted to kiss him, or have him wrap an arm around her shoulder while they watched movies. She didn’t want him to buy her flowers. She just wanted to spend hours with him in the garage, laughing when he dropped a wrench or accidentally got oil in his hair and would have to spend hours getting it out. 

At first, she had thought that maybe she just didn’t like him trying to be someone he wasn’t to prove how much of a man he was. And things did get better after he realized he could just be himself around her, but the person he is just so happens to be far too sweet for his own good. And Nya couldn’t help but cringe every time he called her a pet name and bought her a gift for a date she hadn’t even realized was anything more than a normal day. 

It almost felt like he was reading from the script for a perfect boyfriend, but no one had ever thought to give her the copy of the script with her own lines. So she smiled and thanked him and felt bad for not having something to give him in return so she promised to fix his unbroken mech for him a million times.

Nya hadn’t even realized it at first, but she ran out of dates at the first sign of an excuse far too often as well. Pixel felt the left arm on her suit was being a little unresponsive? Skylor made a passing comment about how packed the restaurant was and how unfortunate it was that she had two of her four servers call off sick for their shift? Suddenly it no longer mattered that she and Jay had been planning the outing all week, she was out of her seat before she even finishing typing her offer of help.

Jay really deserved much better, but she had no idea how to give it to him. Because her script was still missing, and the costume department had apparently decided she could sort this one out herself, but curtains was in five minutes and she had to figure something out.

They walked back to the shopping district, the detour having not quite driven their need for more scrap metal from their minds.Out of her peripheral, Nya noticed Jay attempting to interlock their hands. Hating herself, she quickly drew it up to fidget with her hair, and instead of bringing it back down to her side instead allowed it to clench onto her purse strap. She saw Jay’s hand fidget for a moment, before he scratched his nose and brought it back down to his side. 

The moment felt important. It also felt distinctly like they had just reached the crescendo of a song that suddenly cut off at its peak. 

“It was cool seeing Skylor again,” Jay said conversationally.

“Yeah,” Nya smiled. “Maybe I should go down tomorrow and see if she needs any help. SHe only got enough supplies for today, so if the shipment doesn’t show up she might appreciate someone to go out and grab more for her.”

“Oh,” Jay said. “Okay, well, we can always work on the mechs some other time. I know you always like making sure Skylor has everything she needs.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nya attempted to laugh, but her voice sounded so defensive it came out flat. 

“Nothing!” Jay threw his hands up in the air. Then, he tugged on the zipper of his jacket for a moment. “I mean, nothing,” he said much more quietly. 

“I’ll probably text her to ask if the order came in first, so I’ll let you know tomorrow whether I’m going down or staying home to work on the mechs, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Jay answered. He wasn’t looking at her.

The rest of the trip passed in silence, until they entered the store and forgot about the almost-fight. They threw jokes around like normal, and playfully haggled with Hester, the slightly fanatical woman who ran the shop, over the price of their order until she threatened to ban them for life like she always does. 

“Think this will get us through the mess that is Kai’s mech now?” Jay asked.

“Hopefully. I really don’t want to have to listen to him whining if there’s another mission and he has to ride with someone else,” she snorted. Jay laughed, and they fell into silence again. It wasn’t like the silence from before, where there was a lingering tenseness in the air, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable either. She got the feeling that Jay was scrambling for something to say, and it occurred to her that she hated this. She hated the moments where it felt like her best friend was buried under the surface of someone desperately trying to be good enough for her. She hated the guilt she got when it felt like he never could, despite how much she tried to love him back. And she loved him. She really did.

But not in that way.

This wasn’t a sudden realization brought on by the first time one of them had gotten frustrated with the other. They had pseudo arguments all the time, that were usually easily resolved by a second pinion. But this was the first time it had occurred to her why exactly she always had this feeling that their relationship was like going to a masquerade ball.

It was because, as hard as she tried, she just wasn’t romantically attracted to Jay. She wasn’t oblivious. She knew the feelings she got around Skylor and Pixel were the feelings she wasn suposed to get around her boyfriend. She knew Jay spent most of their dates talking about his other teammates, even if he never seemed to realize it. 

She knew she was kidding herself with the idea that they could ever be happy like this. 

She stopped walking.

Jay took a few more steps before he realized she was no longer by his side. He turned around.

“Nya?”

“Jay, why are we still doing this?”

“What do you mean?” He laughed. She didn’t join him.

“We’re good friends Jay, but this-” she scoffed and gestured her arms around as though to encompass everything around them “-isn’t working.”

“Nya, I-”

“I know, you’re going to say something about how you thought were working so well together, and how you can try harder and we’ll make this work but- I’m going to ask you something and I want you to think about it honestly. Have you honestly ever just been in the moment the entire time we’ve been dating? You stress yourself out so much about being a good boyfriend, and as much as I wish I could say otherwise I don’t make it easy for you. I tried, I really did, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to see you as anything but a friend. I’m sorry, Jay.”

“I- um,” Jay felt tears spring to his eyes and roughly rubbed them away. “I’d be lying if I said i wasn’t sad but I guess I understand. You’re not wrong. I have been pretty stressed the entire time we’ve been dating. Can you at least promise me that you really think we can’t make it work though? Because if you really feel that way, I’ll never ask again, but I just want to make sure we’re not being hasty,” he pleaded.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered. Jay sighed, taking it for the answer it was. “Besides," She added some forced levity to her voice. "I’m pretty sure we both like other people.”

“What?’ Jay laughed wetly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Really?” Nya gave him a flat look. “You have absolutely no idea who either of us actually like. No clue at all?”

“Well, okay, you are pretty willing to drop everything for Skylor and Pixal.”

“Okay, fair," Nya laughed. And Jay laughed. And suddenly, this didn't feel like the end of the world break up scenario he had imagined every time his thoughts got a little too negative. It felt like getting his best friend back. They started walking again. 

"Wait, but who do I supposedly like?" Nya continued walking, and let out a noncommittal hum. "Nya? Nya!"

Well, it didn't really matter Jay supposed. Nya was obviously seeing things that weren't there. But as he took a running start to jump on his best friends back, causing her to stumble for only a moment before she laughed and speed up into a run, it didn't really matter. He would figure it out when the time is right. For now, he had months of best friend time to catch up on.

* * *

"Can you pass me the tea, babe?" 

Jay made a reach towards the container sitting in front of him, before he processed the entirety of what Kai had said and froze. 

Okay, he conceded, maybe he was figuring it out. 

Nya smirked at him across the table, and he glared. She attempted to wink, before ducking her head under the table to hide her laughter. Kai, sadly, noticed.

"Um, is everything okay?" He asked a rather red faced Jay. Nya was no longer laughing silently.

Cole's face had morphed into one of shock, and the room had gone silent apart from Nya's near hysterical laughter. Zand peeked his head in the doorway to see what had caused the sudden drop in noise. Not seeing any thing of much importance, he shrugged and walked back into the kitchen.

"You-" Jay coughed. "_ Kindofcalledmebabe _." He finished in a rush.

"What?" 

"I said you called me 'babe'!" Jay immedinalty buried his burning face in his hands at his announcement. Cole let out a surprised half chuckle, that soon led to him cackling in a similar state to the girl sitting beside him. 

"Oh holy fuck Jay I'm sorry!"

"It's okay," Jay said into the arms he was still buried in. 

"I just- You know, so used to calling people pet names. And also you're really hot, but like- okay. I'm shutting up now." This all came in a sudden rush, and Jay emerged to see Kai's face as red as his. It was a good thing Kai had pretty good control of his powers, or they might have been dealing with a singed table. 

"_ Kai," _ Cole hissed. A thump under the table clued Jay into the fact that he had probably just kicked his boyfriend's shin. Of course the gasp of pain and the whine of " _ Cole c'mon" _also helped. 

"Nya," Cole began calmly. "I apologize on behalf of Kai."

"For what?" Nya asked, laughter banished by her genuine confusion.

"Um, for calling your boyfriend hot and 'babe?'"

"Oh, we're not dating. Flirt away," Nya shrugged. 

"What?" Kai gasped. 

"I didn't know he didn't tell you already," she said. "We broke up over a month ago."

"We've wasted over a month of subtle flirting time?" Kai look simultaneously surprised and horrified.

"What exactly is going on here?"

"I believe Kai is simply upset that we were not aware enough to instigate phase one of our 'Start Dating Jay' plan into action earlier," Zand explained easily as he stepped into the dining area and set a large pot of stew down on an insulating pad. "I would recommend allowing this to cool for a few moments."

"Your _ what _plan?" Jay exclaimed. 

"Isn't it obvious, Jay?" Nya deadpanned. "Their perfectly normal plan to date you." 

"Oh my god," Jay said in sudden realization. "I like them! I get it now Nya!"

"Okay, now I'm confused," Cole complained. 

"Good job Jay!" The water ninja praised. "Now, I'm going to give you disaster gays 2 minutes to work this out while our food cools down. Timer starts now."

"You have a plan on how to get me to date you?" Jay asked. If Kai's face could get any redder it would have. Cole's dark skin and Zane's titanium exoskeleton prevented them from having a visible blush, but the lightning wielder definitely got the idea. 

"It was very detailed," Zane said. "It had thirteen parts. I don't suppose we will be using it much anymore?" 

"I mean, if you're sure you really want to date me. That would be… nice," Jay smiled. 

"Trust me," Cole snorted. "It's all we've talked about for _ way _too long."

"It would be a rather pleasing addition to our arrangement," Zand agreed. 

"Don't let Zane trick you into thinking he's all indifferent, he wrote a poem about your freckles a week ago."

Huh. Jay stood corrected. Zane apparently actually could blush, if the sudden blue flash of his exposed circuitry was to be believed.

"Okay, one, I'm reading that as soon as humanly possible. Two… so we're dating now? Like officially?"

"Yes!" Nya interrupted. "You are! In the name of the first Spinjitzu Master please just kiss or something!"

"Oh, since you're suddenly a romance expert do you want me to call Pixel and Sylor and tell them you have something to say?" Jay asked.

Nya shoved a rather large spoonful of stew into her mouth. 

"Skylor and Pixel, huh?" Kai asked with a raised brow.

"Shut up, you apparently made a 13 step plan to ask out a boy who already likes you that you thought was still dating your sister."

"It seemed like a really good plan at the time!"

"Hm, I don't know, I like this one more," Jay smiled sweetly and leaned to place a kiss on Kai's cheek. The red that had slowly vanished sprang back with full force.

"Oh, that was evil," Cole laughed. 

"More fun than your plan?"

He got three identical nods in return. Nya faked gagging into her bowl of stew. 

Jay looked at his three new boyfriends, and sent a smile to his best friend that tried to convey the feelings of gratitude and what the fuck he was currently feeling. 

She sent a smile back that he somehow knew meant "you're welcome, now stop flirting before I throw up." 

**Author's Note:**

> This is kinda rushed?? Idk, it was a lot to put into a one shot, but I didnt want to divide it up for the person who requested it  
(Speaking of which, if u wanna request smthn go ahead 👀 it may take me a while but I'll do my best!)  
N e way, hope you liked this, please leave a kudo and/or a comment if you did!


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